Drive for gyratory centrifugal machines



E. ROBERTS.

DRiVE 1FOR GYRATORY GENTRIFUGAL MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR-21%| 1917.

Patented July 5, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET I E. ROBERTS.

DRIVE FOR GYRATORY CENTRIF'UGAL m VCHIWESH APPLICATION FILED APR.28,1917 1,883 56 K 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented July 5, 1921 l/ll!!! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE ROBER'ES, OF SALT LAKE CI'I'Y, UTAH, AS SIGN'OR TO THE WESTERN STATES MACHINE COMPANY DRIVE FOR GYRA'I'OR'Y CENTRIFUGAL MACHDTES.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that ILEUGENE ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drives for Gyratory Centrifugal Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to centrifugal machines, and particularly to that type of centrifugal machine in which the basket carry-- ing shaft is suspended at its upper end from a thrust bearing so as to permit the shaft to oscillate or gyrate while rotating at high speed, and is intended to provide an eflicient and practical means for driving such hasket shaft by suitable driving connections with the horizontal line shaft located along side the mixer from which the syrup or other material to be separated is supplied to the centrifugal receptacles.

It is the usual practice to support a battery of six or eight centrifugal machines of this type side by side, below the mixer and to drive them by means of quarter turn belts and suitable driving pulleys, but the angularadeflection of the belts and their continual stretching and wear leads to rapid deterioration and imperfect transmission of power.

Ihe present invention consists in part of the combination with the suspended gyratory basket shaft of an overhead; vertically alined shaft flexibly coupled at its lower end with said basket shaft and driven by suitable gearing and clutch elements operatively connecting the intermediate or transmission shaft with the horizontal line shaft.

The,invention further consists in the combination with a horizontal line shaft of a plurality of gyratory suspended centrifugal machines operatively connected therewith by means of clutch and gearing elements by which each machine independentlv of the others may be set in operation or brought to rest. A further feature of the invention consists in the combination with asuspended gyratory centrifugal machine of driving clutch and gearing connections with the line shaft and brake setting mechanism so coordinated with the driving mechanism as to simultaneously release the driving mechanism and set the brake and vice versa.

These and other features ofthe invention will be explained in detail in the following Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'July 5, 1921.

1917. Serial No. 165,158;

specification and will be defined in the claims annexed hereto. In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a simple and convenient arrangement of mechanism embodying the principlesof this invention in which- F igure 1 is a vertical central section showng the operative relationship of the driving and suspension means for a centrifugal machine. i

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross section through the flexible coupling elements.

, Flg. 3 is a plan view showing the arrangement of a plurality of machines in relation to the line shaft.

F g. 4 is a horizontal section of an enlarged View showing the driving clutch connection.

In the practice of this invention according to the form illustrated in the drawings the centrifugal basket a is suspended by means of the gyratory rotary basket shaft a in any well-known or suitable manner upon an oscillatory non-rotating bearing head 6 provided with any suitable form of thrust bearing 6' to permit the rotation of the basket shaft. a

The oscillatory head b has a spherical bearing support in the socketed hanger c to permit the oscillation of the head caused by the swaying or oscillation of the basket. Any suitable buffer arrangement may be employed for opposing a yielding resistance tothe oscillation of the bearing head I) on the basket shaft a such, for example, as an annular elastic gasket 6 interposed between the socketed hanger c and the upper end of the bearing head 6. Below the rotary thrust bearing the basket shaft a has an elongated lateral bearing contact with the central bore portion of the head 3) so as to cause the head at the basket shaft to oscillate in unison, the surrounding oil cup a serving to provide lubrication for said bearings.

At the upper end of the basket shaft is secured a spider a which in this case also serves as a thrust collar and on the radial arms of this spider are preferably placed anti-friction rollers a which are engaged by the vertical or downwardly projecting prongs or teeth d of a coupling element secured to the overhead vertically alined nonoscillatory shaft d which is supported in lower bearing plate d is driven through clutch and gearing connections with the line shaft 9 as will be conical sleeve 'm shaft 6.

hereinafter described.

To the upper end of the shaft (Z is secured a hollow clutch pulley (1" within which is mounted a spider m secured to the overhead, vertically alined shaft 6, which spider forms an interlocking guide for the radial arranged clutch shoes m to allow them to .move outward under the influence of centrifugal force to engage the rim of the clutch pulley cl. The radial clutch shoes m are retracted inwardly by means of connecting rods m forming a connection between the clutch shoes and the lower ends of the levers m*.

A conical sleeve or clutch controlling member m is mounted to slide axially on the shaft 6 through connection with a forked lever m having at its outer end a sector arm m, a worm gear 911 forming an intermediate connection between the sector arm and a worm screw on the clutch operating shaft If the clutch operating shaft is turned in one direction the sector arm is swung upward which results in depressing the out of contact with the levers m thereby allowing the clutch members or shoes to expand under centrifugal action and grip the clutch pulley d. A reverse movement of the controller shaft 10 raises thesleeve m thrusting apart the upper ends of the levers m and retracting the clutch shoes m from engagement with the clutch pulley.

The controller shaft p is operated by the hand-wheel p and also has a worm and gear connection as shown at p 39 with a screw rod 7) which sets or releases the brake band 12 into or out of operative engagement with the brake pulley a secured to the basket shaft.

The brake and clutch control connections are so correlated that the same movement which releases the clutch will also operate to set the brake and allows the clutch to become operative.

Transmission of power from the line shaft to the clutch shaft 6 is preferably accomplished by means of the parallel counter shafts 7, each carrying a bevel gear f intermeshing with a separate cooperating bevel gear g on line shaft g. The shafts f also carry spur gears f intermeshing with an intermediate pinion e which is secured to By this double gear connection both side and end thrust on the respective shafts is neutralized and an efficient transmission of power secured.

It will be noted that the flexible coupling others,

connection between the shaft (Z and the basket shaft a is located at the level of the center of oscillation of the basket shaft so as to avoid the transmission of lateral strain from the basket shaft to the transmission or drive shaft as the basket shaft sways or gyrates when in service.

Since the centrifugal clutch is connected and released at the will of the operator, the centrifugal machine, and in this-case the lower shaft section d, may be intermittently operated quite independently of any other centrifugal connected with the line shaft whose continuous rotation maintains the other machines in normal operation so long as their clutches are in operative driving position.

It will be understood that the brake setting screw ;0 is mounted in any convenient bracket or support such as shown in section at 20 for the purpose of supporting it on any fixed part of the structure.

To protect the gearing and afford bearing's for the line shaft, a suitable casing h is employed.

What I claim is:

1. A driving system for centrifugal machines embracing in combination a continuously rotating line shaft, a plurality of centrifugal machines having rotary gyratory basket-carrying shafts suspended at their.

upper ends below said line shaft, a nongyratory intermittently driven shaft mounted above each gyratory basket shaft in vertical alinement therewith, a power-transmission shaft arranged co-axially with each intermittently driven shaft, driving gear connections operatively connecting the line shaft with each transmission shaft. a clutch forming a driving connection between each transmission shaft and its cotiperating intermittently driven shaft and means for releasing each clutch from operative engagement, whereby each centrifugal may be started or stopped independently of the substantially as described.

2. The combination with a main line shaft, of a series of centrifugal machines each including a gyratory rotary basketcarrying shaft suspended adjacent to said line shaft, separate driving connections for operatively connecting the gyratory shaft of each centrifugal machine with said line shaft, said operative connections embracing a non-oscillatory transmission shaft, driving gearing connecting the line shaft with said transmission shaft, and means for operatively connecting said transmission shaft with said basket shaft, said means including a flexible coupling and a manually controlled clutch whereby any individual centrifugal may be operated or stopped inde pendently of the others, substantially as described.

necting said shafts, a centrifugal having av rotary gyratory shaft suspended beneath said transmission shaft, an intermediate intermittently driven shaft, a flexible coupling connecting its lower end with said gyratory shaft, a'separable clutch forming a connection between the intermittently driven shaft and the transmission shaft, and means for controlling said clutch to render it operative or inoperative at will, substantially as described.

4. In a centrifugal machine drive the combination of a fixed hanger, an oscillatory non-rotary bearing head mounted therein, a gyratory basket-carrying shaft rotatably supported in said bearing head, a casing mounted above said hanger and provided with vertical bearings alined with the central axis of the basket shaft, a line shaft,

a transmission shaft and an intermediate intermittently driven shaft mounted in said bearings, transmission gears inside said casing for transmitting rotation from the line shaft to the transmission shaft, a clutch located inside said casing and forming an intermittent connection between the transmission shaft and the intermittently driven shaft, substantially as described.

5. In a centrifugal machine drive the combination with a gyratory basket-carrying shaft rotatably suspended at its upper end, a power transmission shaft mounted in stationary bearings above and in co-axial alinement with said basket-shaft, an intermittently driven shaft rotatably mounted in fixed bearings between the basket shaft and the transmission shaft, a centrifugal clutch arranged to form a releasable connection between the upper end of the intermittently driven shaft and the transmission shaft, and a coupling device forming a flexible driving connection between the lower end of said intermittently driven shaft and-the adjacent end of the basket shaft, substantially as described.

6. In a centrifugal machine drive the combination with a suspended gyratory centrifugal machine, a vertically alined overhead intermittently driven shaft rotatably mounted in fixed bearings above and coaxial with the centrifugal machine, a coaxial transmission shaft, flexible connecting means forming a permanent driving connection between the intermittently driven shaft and the centrifugal, a releasable clutch connection forv transmitting rotation from the transmission shaft to the intermittently driven shaft, a main line shaft, and two trains of connecting gearing for transmitting power from the main line shaft to the transmission shaft on opposite sides of said transmission shaft in order to drive the transmission shaft continuously in one di rection, substantially as described.

7. In a drive for centrifugal machines the combination with a line shaft, a centrifugal machine whose basket shaft is suspended by -a universal joint in proximity to said line shaft to permit rotation and gyration, two

vertically alined non-oscillatory shaft members arranged axially on and above said basket shaft, and means for operably connecting and disconnecting said non-oscillatory shafts with each other at will the upper non-oscillatory shaft member being operably connected with the line shaft and the lower shaft member being flexibly connected with the basket shaft, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a gyratory centrifugal machine, an over-head centrally alined intermittently driven shaft, a coupling member flexibly and permanently connecting the intermittently driven shaft with the centrifugal for driving purposes, a trans mission shaft continuously rotating in one direction, a centrifugal clutch forming an automatically operated driving connection between the transmission shaft and the intermittently driven shaft, and means for releasing said clutch fromoperative-engagement to allow the centrifugal to be stopped, substantially as described.

9. The combination with a suspended gyratory centrifugal machine, of an overhead vertically alined non-oscillatory shaft flexibly connected with the centrifugal machine to drive the machine, a power transmission shaft, a main line shaft, and gearing operatively connecting the transmission shaft to the main line shaft, and an automatically operated centrifugal clutch arranged to form a driving clutch between the transmission shaft and said vertically alined shaft, substantially as described. I

10. The combination with a suspended gyratory centrifugal machine and its cooperating brake mechanism, of an overhead power transmission shaft, driving connections operatively connecting said transmission shaft with the centrifugal machine for driving purposes, said operative connections including an automatic clutch and means for simultaneously controlling said clutch and said brake mechanism to render one mechanism operative and the other mechanism inoperative, substantially as described.

11. The combination of a gyratory centrifugal machine, a power transmission shaft vertically alined with the shaft of said centrifugal, intermediate connections embracing a clutch and flexible coupling members, a brake mechanism, and means having en gagement with both the brake mechanism and the clutch and acting to release the clutch when it sets the brake, substantially as described.

12. A centrifugal machine drive embracing in combination a continuously rotating the centrifugals of said machines, each trans 10 line shaft, a plurality of gyratory centrifmission train including shafting vertically ugal machines whose basket shafts are susalined with the basket shaft and a clutch pended below theline shaft, a plurality of controllable at will for operably connecting independent power transmission trains formor disconnecting each centrifugal from the ing individual driving connections between line shaft independently of the others. 15 the line shaft and the respective basket In witness whereof, I have subscribed the shafts and flexibly connected with the basket above specification. shafts to permit gyration and rotation of EUGENE ROBERTS. 

